


Shoot into Space

by waxwolf



Category: Person of Interest (TV)
Genre: Age Difference, Alternate Universe - Space, Dom!Root, F/F, Light BDSM, Science Fiction, Sub!Martine, Sub!Shaw, There's a little Root/Martine in here too, time dilation
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-04
Updated: 2017-03-17
Packaged: 2018-09-28 07:37:42
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 8,903
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10079750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/waxwolf/pseuds/waxwolf
Summary: 18 year old Root travels to New Terra. She's supposed to infiltrate their National Space University and steal weapons secrets for Orbis Decima, but her goals may shift after she meets her weapons design lecturer, Sameen Shaw.





	1. Root

Root is humming with excitement as her ship docks into New Terra’s spaceport. Stealing the blueprints for their latest laser cannon is going to be her biggest job yet. It won’t be the most difficult, at least she doesn’t think so, but everything else she’s done has been simpler in a way. She’s hacked, she’s grifted, and she’s thieved, but never all together like this before. The opportunity to use all her different skills in concert, there’s a certain beauty to it that makes her smile. It’ll be a bit of a long game too. Not quite so long for her - it’s unlikely to take more than a month or two from her perspective, but factoring in the time dilation during her near light speed travel, by the time she gets back to Orbis Decima 6 years will have passed. That’s probably part of why the payout is so high too - high enough to take a couple years off when this is over! There are a few other people she can think of back home who could have pulled it off, but most of them are too sentimental to miss out on 6 years of the lives of their friends and families. Amateurs. 

She’s already enrolled herself as a new student at the government’s National Space University. Their minimum age for entrance is 20. She’s not exactly 20 yet, but her alias Veronica Sinclair is. She munches on an apple while she scrolls through the file on Sameen Shaw that Greer, her contact on Orbis Decima, sent her through the ansible com. She has level 2 military clearance, she’s running Root’s intergalactic weapons design lab, and she’s known for spending a lot of time by herself. Root smiles to herself as she idly twirls the holographic projection of Shaw around, zooming in and out from time to time. It’s so much easier to incapacitate someone when they’re alone.

~ ~ ~

It’s Root’s tenth day of on New Terra and she’s in the weapons design lab again. Shaw is describing recoil in laser versus projectile weaponry. A couple of her classmates have complained about how dry and boring Shaw’s lectures are, but Root can see them for the absolute perfection that they are. Shaw will give a brief overview of her topic, and then dive into such precise detail that Root is left with a complete understanding of whatever it is Shaw was talking about. And she has this certain way of speaking - the way her lips move, the dark and rich quality of her voice - it’s almost hypnotic. Root feels like when Shaw lectures the words vibrate down to her core and then resonate through her whole body. She sighs in pleasure. Just because she’s on the clock doesn’t mean she can’t enjoy a good lecture. It’s a wonderful change of pace from the texts she usually teaches herself from. Shaw’s eyes scan the room for a second, then lock onto Root’s. She feels her breath catch - what a powerful lecturer!

“Veronica, have you been listening to me?” It takes Root a second to remember that’s her.

“Yes. Absolutely.”

“Then by these calculations, what caliber projectile weapon has an equivalent recoil to the Magnum Laser 2?” The look on Shaw’s face is practically predatory, and Root is basking in its strength.

“Wouldn’t that be a 22?” She’s trying to play the innocent diamond in the rough, but feels a positively devilish smirk creeping onto her face. She bites her lip to keep it in check. She really needs to work on controlling her facial expressions.

“That’s... correct.” Shaw glares at Root for half a second before moving on. 

Root feels the heat from the glare swirl around inside her before pooling lower in…  _ Oh. Ohhh.  _ She feels her eyebrows twitch when her brain finally catches up with her body.  _ Well that makes things more interesting. _

~ ~ ~

It’s Root’s 19th day on New Terra and they’re finally going to get to shoot something. Shaw is showing them how to hold the various weapons they’ll be using. Root knows how to shoot things, but the way Shaw does it, she elevates it to an art form. After a few highly enjoyable demonstrations each student is assigned to their own target to try out the various weapons of the day on. 

Root gets ready to blow all their minds with her marksmanship, when suddenly it occurs to her that this might not be in her best interest. She bites her lip and watches as Shaw directs a different student - correcting their stance and grip, getting close… That settles it. She’s going to be terrible at this, and work it for all she’s got. As soon as she catches Shaw looking over in her direction, she grabs the closest gun, leans back, and fires. Her shot just barely makes it onto the target. Shaw makes a tsking sound as she stalks over.

“Remember what I told you about balance? You need to lean forward.” 

“I thought I was.”

Shaw huffs and guides Root into the correct position with a firm hand on her back. Root makes the correction, and Shaw nods in approval. “Good. Loosen your grip a bit, and try again.” Root hits the other side of the target this time, but a little closer to center. “Better, but this time...” Shaw slides easily into Root’s space and she starts adjusting her hands. Before she can finish, though, the bell chimes to signal the end of their session. The rest of the students immediately start packing up to head to lunch.

“Mind if we hang back for a few to practice some more?” Root’s question comes out a bit breathy, and she can’t seem to drag her eyes away from Shaw’s mouth. 

“It’s lunchtime, so no.”

“Another time?”

Shaw pauses for a second, then sighs. “Sure. I have some time Friday after dinner. Do you want to come with me to the shooting range?”

“I’d come anywhere with you.”  _ Oops.  _ Root quickly arranges her face into something she hopes resembles innocence as Shaw eyes her suspiciously. 

“Whatever. See you.” Shaw turns to start packing up the weapons, but not before Root catches what she thinks might be the beginnings of a smirk creeping onto her gorgeous face. It’s a good look. 

~ ~ ~

It’s Friday, her 21st day on New Terra, and Root is buzzing. Shaw will be giving her private lessons today! She’s finishing up brushing her teeth when the ansible com dings. Grumbling a bit, she spits, and stalks over to answer it before it’s too late.

“Yes?” Greer’s wrinkly old face is smiling benignly back at her from light years away.

“Ah, Root. I was hoping to catch you before you headed off to school today.”

“Well you’ve got me, but make it quick please or I’m going to be late.”

“Of course. How goes your progress? Have you gotten any closer to Ms. Shaw? Do you know where they’re keeping the blueprints?”

“I have 3 potential locations on the blueprints. One seems a little more likely than the others, but I’m not certain yet. I’ve been casing them in my spare time… Shaw is more difficult to get alone than we had assumed. It may take some time.” The lie about Shaw rolls easily off her tongue.

“Very well. I’ll expect an update within the next 48 hours. Good luck.” The com clicks off.

Root tries not to think too hard about the lie. She probably just did it to buy herself some time. She really should figure out the exact location of the blueprints before trying anything with Shaw. She grabs her school bag and hurries out to get to her first class on time.

~ ~ ~

Root is decidedly giddy by the time dinner rolls around. She eats a little rice with fish at her usual table by herself before trashing the rest of her plate and skipping off to the shooting range. She waits outside rocking back and forth on her heels. It’s another half an hour before Shaw gets there. She still has some sauce on the corner of her mouth and Root wants to lick it off, slowly.

“Hey, Sameen” She sings. Shaw shoots her a look, but ultimate ignores the use of her given name. It had taken some digging to find. She unlocks the door with a swipe of her badge and Root follows her in.

“Show me.” Shaw slips on ear protection and gestures towards the target. Root puts her own ear protection on, settles into an awkward shooting stance, and fires. The shot is completely off the target this time.

“Oops.” She gives Shaw a sheepish smile, as she rolls her eyes in frustration.

“Were you even listening last time?”

Shaw barks a series of corrections at Root, occasionally moving in to correct her stance and grip, much to Root’s delight. Root puts a few bullets on the target, but avoids any real accuracy. Soon enough Shaw is down on her knees fussing over the positioning of Root’s feet, and it’s just. too. much!

“If I’d known this was all it took to get you on your knees for me, I would have done it much sooner.”

Shaw stops, and slowly gets back up on her feet. She levels a fierce glare at Root. It’s so hot.

“You’re not Veronica.”

“Uh… What?”

“I looked at your file. It’s not you. The psych profile is completely off.”

“Um.” Fuck. She knew she shouldn’t have tried to pull off shy and timid. It seemed like a good way to get Shaw to trust her at the time, but her acting isn’t good enough for it yet. Something else she needs to work on. “I… I wanted to get into the program, but I was too young, so I created an alias.”

“...How old are you?”

“19.” She’ll be 19 in 2 weeks, that’s close enough, damnit. Root holds her breath while Shaw studies her face. She’ll probably turn her in. Root should take her out now and go for the blueprints, but for some reason she finds herself frozen to the spot.

“Do you still want me call you Veronica?” Root lets out a shaky breath and involuntarily giggles.

“In front of everyone else, yes, please. But when it’s just us… You can call me Root.”

Shaw scoffs and rolls her eyes. “Alright, kid. Your secret’s safe with me - for now. I could use a nerd like you for some special projects… as long as you can keep up with the more physical stuff.” Without breaking eye contact with Shaw, Root raises her pistol and fires at the target - bull’s eye. Shaw smirks at her, and Root catches a hint of pupil dilation. “I thought so. You’re going to work with me after class on advanced weapons design. We’ll be creating a new auto-aiming program for the Laser Magnum 4 next week. Don’t waste my time with shit like this again.” And with that she turns on her heels and heads out.

Working in close proximity to Shaw on advanced weapons projects? Sounds a hell of a lot more fun than reporting back to that smarmy old fart in Orbis Decima. Maybe she can put off finishing the job for a couple more months. If she’s finished this special side project with Shaw, they’ll be getting two weapons plans for the price of one. They’ll be crapping themselves with joy.

~ ~ ~

Root has been on New Terra for about 4 months now. Greer’s com messages have been getting more and more annoying, so she’s started ignoring him completely. He’ll probably think she’s in transit, or dead. Whatever. She’ll deal with that when she has to. She’s not going to finish the job until she’s gotten the most out of her education. She’s learned a lot, especially working with Shaw on their advanced weapons projects. She’s not willing to throw that away. And sooner or later, Shaw is going to realize they should be dating - at the very least fucking. Shaw clearly has some interest, though she probably thinks she’s hidden it completely - so cute. Root’s not that much younger either (in 30 years she’ll be 49 and Shaw will be 60 and no one will bat an eye). It could work. Root has gotten bolder with her flirting, but Shaw just rolls her eyes every time. She needs to be patient.

~ ~ ~

Root has been on New Terra for a little over 3 years. Shaw doesn’t teach any of her classes anymore, but their relationship has gone so far beyond that. After they finished work on how the Mag 4, they started creating more advanced aiming modules together. Soon enough, Shaw was bringing her in on almost all of her weapons projects. Most recently they’ve been working on something they’ve dubbed the Quantum Cannon - it’s their biggest and most exciting project yet. When they get deep into the details, it’s almost like they’re harmonizing in a beautiful symphony. 

Shaw gets her more than anyone else ever even tried to. With everyone else, as soon as she started to reveal a part of her true self - her sadistic side, or her maybe slightly off sense of humor - they’d back off, and she’d be alone again. It wasn’t a big deal. She actually preferred it that way. She had no desire to be bogged down by weaklings. Shaw, though, was anything but weak. No matter how much of herself she showed her, Shaw might get annoyed, but never scared or disgusted. There were even signs that she cared about Root - about  _ Root _ ! When she was in the middle of a big project and forgot to eat or sleep, food delivery bots would start appearing at her door. Her computer would also be mysteriously plagued by viruses in the middle of the night. What Shaw lacked in programming strength, she made up for with sheer determination. As Root squashed one virus to get back to work another would pop up, usually with “GO TO BED” flashing across her screen. This could go on for hours until she finally gave in and collapsed into bed. Shaw would, of course, deny everything, but the next day she’d always be extra grumpy and dark circles would plague her eyes. So sweet.

Root still wants more. She wants to kiss Shaw. She wants to push her against a wall and bite, touch her until she comes undone, wants to feel that happen, but she’s learned to better control herself. At first it was all she could think about. When they braced against each other for aiming, when Shaw was showing her how to properly maneuver the larger weapons she hadn’t used before, honestly even when Shaw brushed up against her accidentally. She’d have to bite the inside of her cheek and count backwards in her head to regain concentration. Nowadays she bides her time. She’s made it abundantly clear what she wants from Shaw, but Shaw still ignores that. When she starts the feel herself getting too worked, there are a few women she can find to care of her needs. She always makes sure they understand first - she’s not interested in getting attached to anyone (besides Shaw). She even secretly profiles all of them to make sure her selections have little interest in the romantic side of things. She might as well be thorough. 

Today, though, today she’s being tested. Shaw had discovered that Root has almost no training in unarmed combat, so she decided to take it into her own hands.

“You never know when you’ll find yourself without a weapon.” She had said. “You need to be able to protect yourself. It’s ridiculous that you’re 22 and you can’t do a simple takedown. Meet me in the gym tomorrow night, 2100 hrs.”

So now here she is, covered in sweat, pinning a panting Shaw to some grimy mat in the gym, horny out of her mind. Shaw’s pupils are blown wide open, and her eyes keep drifting to Root’s mouth. So obvious. Root adjusts herself a little so her knee is planted just below Shaw’s crotch. All Shaw would have to do to get some friction would be to arch, just a little, and she wants to. Root can feel it in her bones. She leans in until their faces are only centimeters apart.

“I think I could get used to takedowns.”

Shaw freezes for a second, eyes glued to Root’s lips. Root can feel the warm little puffs of Shaw’s breath on her face. Her eyes flutter shut as she closes the distance between them. That’s when Shaw grabs her arm, twists, and throws her harshly on her back.

“You left yourself open. We’ll work on that next time.” Before Root can protest, Shaw is halfway across the gym. Root huffs in irritation, but still watches Shaw do her first set of pull-ups before heading for the lockers.

The gym had been pretty deserted this late at night, so Root has the locker room to herself, or at least that’s what she thought. She’s idly touching herself in the shower when she catches sight of Martine staring at her. They exchange a look and Martine wordlessly walks over and drops to her knees. Thank God. Martine may annoy the crap out of her in class, but when she’s aching for a sub, Martine’s more than willing to oblige. Root grabs her by the hair and directs her where she wants her to go. It feels good. Root is appreciating how the water from her shower is soaking Martine’s sports bra and shorts when Shaw walks in. It’s not until then that Root realizes she’d been waiting for her. Their eyes meet and Root feels her whole body shudder. Shaw starts to look away, but Root growls a little, and gives Shaw such a heated look the implied “ **stay** ” is unmistakable. Magically, she does. Shaw’s eyes don’t leave Roots as she thrusts into Martine’s face, chasing down her orgasm with everything she has. Sameen licks her lips and swallows and it’s enough to drive Root over the edge.

“Sameen!” Shaw inhales sharply as Root falls into her orgasm. Her knees get weak, and she has to lean against the shower wall to stay upright. Silent as a panther, Shaw leaves before Root is strong enough to stand on her own again.

“Fantasizing about Shaw again?” Martine wipes her mouth off and chuckles. “I don’t get what you see in that grumpy little thing.”

“Her perfection is beyond you.”

“Hmph, to each their own, I suppose.”

Root hears the locker room door click shut and sighs. No use chasing that one down. She’ll be long gone, and Root wants to give her a little time to process before she pins her down anyway. She also has some unfinished business to take care of, if the little coughs she’s hearing are any indication.

“So impatient.” She pushes Martine down on all fours and gets to work.

~ ~ ~

It’s been 2 weeks since The Locker Room Incident, and Shaw has been avoiding Root like the plague. The Quantum Cannon project has been in stasis until their scheduled space testing next month, but Root is pretty sure Shaw has been working on something else she hasn’t told Root about. She’s hacking the security feeds looking for Shaw when she sees him. It’s Jeremy fucking Lambert from Orbis Decima. That douche must be taking over her old blueprint stealing job. It looks like he’s heading for Shaw’s office. Root mutters a string of curses, grabs her old Orbis Decima med kit, and dashes out of her ship back towards campus. When a pebble wedges itself into her heel, she distantly thinks maybe she should have put some shoes on before she left.

By the time she gets to Shaw’s office, Sameen is already slumped over her desk convulsing uncontrollably. Root lifts her head and finds her eyes severely bloodshot. He slipped her NeuroLoc. Fucking bastard. Root works quickly. She finds the vial of antidote in her kit (it’s a pretty commonly used poison back home) and injects it into Sameen’s deltoid. The convulsions stop within seconds, and Root brings her the rest of the way back with some ammonia salts.

“What the fuck!.. Root?”

“It’s me, sweetie. Lambert… Whoever that guy was pretending to be, that’s not who he is. He’s from Orbis Decima, and I’m pretty sure he just stole your access information to get into the Weapon Design Center.”

Much faster than Root would have expected for someone who just recovered from NeuroLoc poisoning, Shaw bolts out of her chair and starts sprinting down the hall. Root is close on her heels, but even with her longer legs it’s hard to keep up. Without even breaking a sweat Shaw is on her com to Control.

“We’ve got a problem, ma’am. Can you tell me who the last person in the Weapon’s Design Center was?... No, that wasn’t me. When did he leave?... Understood. I’m in pursuit.”

Shaw dashes past the room Root is almost certain is where the blueprints are kept and takes a hard right towards the military spaceport. Shaw climbs into the ship they’ve hooked their Quantum Cannon up to in preparation for the test flight next month. Root has one foot in when Shaw snaps at her.

“No. Not you. You’re staying here.”

“If you think-” but then Shaw pulls her in and kisses her. The roughness of her hands is in sharp contrast how soft her lips are. The shock of it stuns her just long enough for Shaw to push her the rest of the way out of the ship, and slam the door in her face. And then she’s gone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, hope you guys liked this! Let me know. Second chapter to come soonish.


	2. Shaw

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's bondage, near overstimulation, biting, and a little S&M in this chapter (between horizontal lines if you want to skip).

Shaw feels the adrenaline seep into her bones as her ship propels itself faster and faster, getting ever closer to the speed of light. She missed this - the speed, the solitude. The stars have just started elongating from points to streaks at her sides. She steals glances at them while she adjusts her heading, fine tuning her course towards Orbis Decima.

Her last long distance near light speed trip had been just over 5 years ago. It had been 2 days from her perspective and 18 years for everyone back home. It was weird to see everyone so much older, but it hadn’t bothered her much. Even John is older than her now, though otherwise exactly the same. Matthew moved on, which was great, because Shaw had been getting tired of his sulking.

Come to think of it, everyone had moved on. Every time she took one of these trips, she had less to come back to, less to tie her down. It had never been a problem before. Shaw had actually counted it as a pro, but now… Root. Thinking of a life without Root around, it doesn’t seem like it’d be fun anymore.

As if on cue, her ansible com chimes to let her know a new message has come in. Root has those circles under her eyes again. Glancing over at her remote clock, Shaw sees it’s already been 5 days back on New Terra.

“Hey Sweetie, I got in touch with some old friends back on Orbis Decima. By the way, I kind of used to live on Orbis Decima.”

“I figured.” Shaw mumbles to herself as she shakes her head.

“It’s a long story. We’ll chat later.” Root’s smile cracks for a moment, but she replaces it quickly. “The ship Lambert is on is an Armstrong 7. It was developed by Orbis Decima’s military division 3 and a half years ago. It’s not as fast as your ship, but it’s much more durable. He’s probably going to take a shortcut through the Carter Asteroid Belt. He can afford to take a few hits before the ship is compromised too much. With the time he’ll save, you won’t be able to catch him before he gets to Orbis Decima, and they’ll be waiting for you if you follow him on planet.” Shaw curses to herself. New Terra’s ships have always been the fastest, but their durability is crap. Only a couple pilots have tried maneuvering through asteroid belts in them, and neither of them made it back. “I think I’ll be able to infiltrate the government by leaning on one of my contacts there.” Root continues matter-of-factly. “You should send a message back to Control so she’ll let me use one of your precious engine boosters. It’ll shave a month off my transit. And you can head home before you have to slurp down any of those SupCals.”

Shaw glares at the image of Root, and jabs the reply button with more force than may be strictly necessary. “I don’t think so Root. I started this mission and I’m going to finish it. You know as well as I do, the second those plans hit the surface they’ll have an advantage over us. There’s no reason for you to get involved. Finish up your program… We’ll ‘chat’ when I get back. I have a plan.” Shaw decides not to mention her plan involves being the first New Terra soldier to make it through an asteroid belt at near light speed. It might not sound like the best idea, but Shaw is confident she can pull it off. She’s a better pilot than those two attention seeking amateurs. And it’s definitely a better idea than Root waltzing into the military headquarters of a government Shaw is pretty sure she betrayed.

She re-programs her route, swiping through the various warning screens that pop up regarding the asteroid belt. Once the damn ship shuts up about the probability of exploding, she’s able to fine tune that particular leg of the journey. The ship’s computer has come up with a decent route, but it hasn’t taken into account her exemplary reaction time. There’s a more direct path she can take by blasting through a few of the larger asteroids. She’ll have to be quick, but it’ll put less pressure on the ship to dodge and weave at high speeds. By the time she’s done Root has sent her 5 more messages (she distantly notices that a year and a half has gone by in New Terra), but there’s no time to watch them. The ship is hurtling itself through space faster and faster, and the belt is coming.

She waits until the ship is in proper alignment and then fires off her laser cannon 5 times in rapid succession. The belt blurs past her and she’s through. It’s a touch anticlimactic, but she’s alive.

It’s doesn’t take much longer before her ship picks up on Lambert in the distance. He’s close, but he’s not close enough. By her calculations, he’ll get to Orbis Decima just before she can reach him. A lesser soldier might have cursed to themselves, radioed Control, and headed home. A lesser soldier wouldn’t have picked the ship with the insanely powerful untested cannon strapped to its hull. Shaw’s lips quirk into a rare smile. She had been disappointed when Control had said “Of course we’re going to use drones for the test run.”

‘This is my baby’ she thinks. ‘Mine and Root’s - wait that sounds bad - I don’t want kids, just weapons. And not with Root! Although we do make some damn beautiful weapons together.’ She frowns, recollects herself, and starts the thought over again. ‘This is my baby, and I’m going to be the one to watch her take her first steps.’

There’s no other weapon quite like the Quantum Cannon. Everything else is all projectiles and lasers - limited ultimately by the speed of light. The Quantum Cannon is not. At its core it’s based off the ansible com - able to send material faster than the speed of light, near instantaneously over vast distances. But the Quantum Cannon isn’t sending a simple message or program. It’s sending pure destruction, enough heat energy to take out a moderately sized carrier vessel.

Shaw inches close enough that she can pick Lambert up in her scope. She wants to see this. She locks the Quantum Cannon on his engine, and fires. The explosion is a thing of beauty - a near blinding flash, followed by a sea of vapor dotted with particles. She steers away, and slows the ship to a halt less than 200,000 km from Orbis Decima. Bye bye Poison Fuckface. Shaw feels the warmth of victory flush over her. It’s actually a lot hotter than usual. It was a very satisfying shot, she thinks, but… Okay now it’s positively boiling. Shaw quickly realizes the heat sink in the Quantum Cannon must have malfunctioned, and if she doesn’t act fast she’s going to get cooked alive before she can get proper credit for making it through that asteroid belt.

Her hands fly over the keyboard as she hacks through the ship’s failsafes - a trick Root taught her a couple years ago. After double checking her seatbelt, she lets out all the air in her lungs and then opens the main door. The immediate plunge in temperature is more than uncomfortable, but she’s fine. Before she loses all sensation in her fingers, she closes the door again and re-pressurizes the cabin. The heating system is a lot faster than the cooling system, so it doesn’t take long before the ship returns to a workable temperature.

A quick systems check reveals her G-force stabilizer took a hit from the heat. It’s still functioning, but only at 90% capacity. She won’t be able to gun it quite so much heading home, unless she feels like sacrificing her lunch and possibly her eyeballs, which she does not.

She checks her ansible com messages. Control has instructed her to scan the planet after destroying Lambert’s ship, and report back on mission completion. She starts the scanner and sets the ship into an orbital path. Should be done in a couple hours.

The next message she checks is from John. He’s taken over her teaching position back on New Terra. “I’ve made a few changes in your curriculum. Hope you don’t mind. I have a few more in mind if you take too long getting back.” She narrows her eyes at the screen. His voice is steady, but the twinkle in his eye betrays how well he knows this gets under her skin.

The last 7 messages are from Root… Shaw finds the adrenalin from her chase making a reappearance. She decides to take care of that with some exercise before checking on the rest of the messages. She’s on her 85th sit up. Every time she pulls herself upright her eyes connect to the blinking light on her ansible com. ‘Why did she have to send so many messages? Did something happen?’ She makes herself finish up to 100, grabs a chocolate peanut butter flavored SupCal, and starts playing the messages.

The first 4 messages are Root trying to convince Shaw to change her mind and turn back. Her proposed alternative plans get more and more ridiculous. In her 3rd message, she comes up with a plan to construct a new Quantum Cannon, ten times the size of the original, and blast Orbis Decima out of the sky from 3 light years away. There’s a violent fury in her eyes, which Shaw has to admit is kind of hot. The 4th message features a harried Root informing Shaw there’s an issue with the Quantum Cannon’s heat sink. She tells Shaw she’s going to fix it, and then discuss Project Destroy Orbis Decima with Control. Luckily, it would appear either Control stopped her, or she came to her own conclusion that mass genocide wasn’t the best plan, because Orbis Decima is still intact.

The next 3 messages more casual, it seems as though she’s given up on luring Shaw back. In the first, Root mainly talks about John. She has decided that he’s “alright. No Sameen Shaw, but he’s doing his best, and it’s not bad. Don’t be too hard on him, Sweetie.” Shaw wonders distantly if Root is attracted to men. She doesn’t think so… but she’s never thought to ask. Sometimes people are surprisingly attracted to John, and she hopes that gross fate does not befall Root.

In the next message Root mentions she graduated that year and Shaw’s mind sinks into the gutter. Her Plan. It hadn’t started off as a plan, more of a joke. Wouldn’t it be funny if she broke into Root’s ship the day of her graduation and waited there completely naked until Root got back? She wouldn’t know what to do with herself! Would probably start sweating and stammering, getting all pink, maybe get a little floppy in the knees. Yes, it was a very funny plan, until it wouldn’t let go of her brain. More and more her mind returned to this plan, except, increasingly, she was the one losing control. Root would open the door, but instead of falling all over herself, she’d dip in to that inner power Shaw knows is always waiting for her just under the surface. Maybe she’d strip down, open up some hidden chest, and fuck her with a strapon until she came like 50 times. Maybe she’d, tie her up, and tease her until she begged for release. Maybe she’d hurt her in that way her body aches to be hurt. Shaw may miss part of the middle section of the message in her Plan Haze, but does catch the end part where Root announces she’ll be staying at the University to work on some projects with Finch. She’s always been a prodigy with computers, but Shaw’s going to have to smack John upside the head for not keeping her in the weapons department.

Root is painting her nails in the final message. Judging by the light in her ship it’s late morning. “Good morning, Sweetie.” She says it sweetly, but there’s something decidedly devious lurking behind her smile. That little crooked tooth Shaw has grown absurdly fond of is poking out too. “If my calculations are correct, you should be finishing up with your adventure pretty soon.” Her signature black nail polish goes on in even glossy strokes. Watching gives Shaw a pleasant tingly sensation on the back of her neck. “I’ve been working on something big. I do wish I could tell you more, Sameen, but” She mimes zipping her lips shut. “It’s confidential.” The quirk of her lips says she’s anything but sorry. “You’ll just have to wait until you get back to find out.” She crosses her legs and blows on the finished hand. Shaw clenches down on nothing - something she’s gotten used to with Root over the past year or so. Even from 3 light years away, Root is so annoying.

She’ll of course want to know that Shaw’s alive. She taps the reply button.

“Hi Root. I’m done here. I’ll be on my way back in a few. Uh, see you in 3 years, I guess.” Right before she turns off the com screen the send dates of the last 3 messages catch her eye. Root has sleuthed out when her birthday is! Shaw wonders if she found the year too. Will Root try to tease her about being technically 71 New Terra time. Whippersnapper.

It’s time for push-ups. Shaw has barely gotten through 20 when the com rings.

“Hi, Sweetie!” Root is positively beaming.

“Hey Root. Is there something you need?”

“Nothing special, just some girl talk. It’s been awhile.” Shaw nods. It hasn’t been nearly as long for her, but it has been a couple weeks since they’ve spent any real, non-near poisoned to death time together… a couple weeks since The Locker Room Incident. It’s been a long 2 weeks of evasion, edged with what might be loneliness (Shaw isn’t sure). It had been too much: the takedown, the locker room, the wetness, the desperate masturbation in her apartment. She wasn’t ready. Root was 11 years younger than her and a student. Maybe if she had been 30 and a student, or at least 22 and graduated, she would have just said fuck it. But both? It was breaking too many rules. She’s not supposed to break rules - slippery slope and all that.

Shaw realizes she’s probably been staring into space for the past minute. She refocus on Root, whose eyes have gone all soft and mushy. She waves with a flutter of her fingers and continues her doe eyed adoration. Shaw rolls her eyes.

“I hope you’re enjoying yourself.”

“It is an absolutely stunning view. Did you just finish working out?” She’s unbelievable. Shaw flexes her arms and pecs a little, and watches Root leer at her in appreciation. Great, now Shaw’s unbelievable too.

“I should probably get back to this.” She gestures at the ship. “The scan will be done soon, and I want to do a double check to make sure I’m good to fly.”

“Alright, Darlin’. I’ll see you in a few. Get home safe.” Root “winks,” and flicks her com off.

Shaw sighs, and goes through a final systems check. Everything looks good. The scan finishes soon after, and she sends the file to Control with a successful mission report. She enters her heading (avoiding the Carter Asteroid Belt this time), and sets the ship in motion. It’s time to head home.

~ ~ ~

The trip home isn’t nearly as fun as the trip out. It’s slower, for one. It’s still a lot faster than some of the earlier near light speed trips Shaw had taken - the engine and G-force reduction technologies had come a long way in the past 45 years - but she’s been spoiled by the latest ships. She also doesn’t have anything to focus on. No Pompous Fart Sandwich to shoot at. Her mind wanders. She thinks of Root. She wonders if things will be different by the time she gets back. Will Root still come bother Shaw all the time? Will she get over her like Matthew did? The com call had felt familiar. She’s never been all that good with conversation, but Root has never seemed to mind. She doesn’t feel like she lets her down. They just comfortably share space and time. It would suck if Root wasn’t a part of her life anymore.

~ ~ ~

When she lands, Control is there to greet her along with some other senior officers. Her eyes scan the landing area subtly, but she does not find Root. Maybe she doesn’t have clearance to be here yet. The welcoming party immediately escorts her back to the main conference room, and she debriefs. As she casually slips in the part of her mission where she made it through the Carter Belt, she notes with pleasure that most of her colleagues plaster on fake smiles as they tense with envy. Except for Hersh, of course, his expression remains unchanged, but his chest swells noticeably with pride - softy.

After she finishes up Control clears her throat.

“Well done, Captain. You must be tired from your mission. I’ll let you rest.”

“No, ma’am. I’m fine. Is there something else?”

“Now that you mention it,” Control smiles tightly. “There is something else we’ve been saving for you, if you’d like to hear about it.” Shaw nods and waits. “Good.” She leans forward over steepled her fingers. “We’ve found intelligent alien life.” Shaw quirks an eyebrow. “Finch came up with a program that can discern signs of intelligent life over light years away from long range scanning data. It’s finally found something. We need you to pilot a long distance scouting mission. Find out what you can about these aliens, and send us a detailed report via com... I want to know what their strengths are, their weaknesses. If they have advanced technology, I want to know what it is and how to build it. You will also be bringing a member of the alien species back with you for analysis. We’d prefer alive, but that’s not absolutely necessary. From what we can tell, it will fit on the ship.”

“Understood, Ma’am.” She lets it sink in. “How far will I be traveling?”

“Their planet - from what we can tell they’re only on one planet - is 115 light years away.”

“When will I be leaving?”

“As soon as possible. I understand if you need to take a few days to collect yourself, but the sooner the better. A ship has already been prepped in expectation of your departure. Finch’s program has been installed on it to assist you.”

“Will I have any other company on this trip?”

“This is a solo mission. I’m sorry, but that’s non-negotiable.” Shaw is certain she isn’t actually sorry.

“Understood, Ma’am. I’ll be ready to leave in 2400 hours.”

“Excellent. We’ll see you off from the port tomorrow night, then. Dismissed.”

~ ~ ~

Shaw is lost in thought on her way back to her apartment. 230 years. Talk about a road trip. And no Root… Root will be dead and gone by the time she gets back. So will everyone else. There was a time when she would have jumped at a mission like this - nothing but her and her ship speeding through the cosmos probably for days. She hopes she’s not going soft.

She’s one step into her apartment before she draws her gun. Her arm stalls halfway up when she realizes it’s Root standing in the middle of her living room - she’s wearing tight leather pants, and a leather jacket over a white button up.

“Hey, Root.”

“Someone’s excited to see me.” Root chides her, but she’s clearly the one dancing with excitement. She closes the distance between them with quick steps and floats out a hesitant hand. Shaw leans in without even thinking about it, and Root’s palm cups her face. It feels nice and cool. Root’s hand slides back and her fingers weave into the hair at the back of Shaw’s neck. She tugs a little and brings them together. Their foreheads lightly bump and Shaw feels the coolness of Root’s hands contrast the warmth of her body. Shaw snakes her hands under Root’s jacket and runs her thumb over the small of Root’s back. She feels a sharp intake of breath, and then Root’s lips are on hers. The kiss remains chaste for a second or 2, and then Shaw is pushed back into her closed door and Root’s teeth are sinking deliciously into her bottom lip. Her brain is beginning to shut down, but she forces it to boot up again when she remembers her trip.

“Root, wait.” Root backs off immediately and Shaw is struck by how affected she is. Her face and chest are getting all pink, and her breaths are heavy. It’s a good look. “I need to tell you something. I’m going on another trip, and I’m going to be gone for… awhile.”

“Oh, Sameen. I know.”

“You know? I’m not coming back in your lifetime. I don’t… It’s what I have to do.” Root nods. “Are you sure you still want to do this?” In response Root steps back into her space.

“As long as you are.” Shaw nods.

“Yes.” She sincerely doubts she’ll ever be as into anyone else as she is into Root, and if she misses this chance, she’s going to regret it.

* * *

 “And if you change your mind?” Root’s lips twitch as runs a hand down her side and slowly digs her thumb in just over Shaw’s hip. Shaw pushes into it.

“I say red.” Root’s face lights up like she’s been given a kitten.

“Good girl.” Root pushes Shaw back into the door, slots her thigh neatly between her legs, and kisses her again. They make out like that for awhile - Root intermittently pushing into that spot above Shaw’s hip, Shaw hopelessly grinding on Root’s thigh - until Root pushes her away. “Clothes off.” Shaw peels her clothes off on the spot, keeping eye contact with Root as much as possible. Root lifts an eyebrow and wets her bottom lip, greedily eyeing Shaw’s newly exposed body, but she doesn’t touch her. Not yet. She jerks her head in the direction of Shaw’s bedroom. “On the bed. Face up.” Shaw adds a little extra sway to her hips as she goes. She’s well aware Root loves her ass.

Root joins her in the bedroom maybe a few minutes or possible an hour later, Shaw isn’t sure, but it feels like a long time. She’s completely clothed and carrying a length of thin rope. Shaw lets out a small noise as Root positions and secures each of her wrists to her headboard. She tests the strength when Root’s done and enjoys the bite of the rope on her wrists accompanied by the tired creak of her headboard.

“Don’t you look nice?” Root’s voice has gotten a little breathy. She sits on the edge of the bed appreciating her handiwork. A hand trails up Shaw’s body, and stops for a minute to pinch and stroke one of her nipples. Shaw inhales and squirms, feeling her own wetness start to spread to her inner thighs. “Easy there, Darlin’.” Root bites her neck and sucks. Shaw lets out an undignified moan as she feels her blood rise to the surface under Root’s mouth. Root rewards it with two fingers right where she needs them. Root hums happily. “I’m going to make you come until you black out. Would you like that, Sameen?”

“Fuck yes.”

Root was not kidding. Shaw is covered in bite marks and she’s come 5 times already. She’s not sure how much longer she can stay conscious, but wants to keep going for Root. “One more, Sameen. Give me one more.” Root’s tongue is gentle, but Shaw is so sensitive right now it almost feels like too much. “Can you come just one more time for me?” Root is panting and thrusting into her face.

“Y-yea, Root. God. Anything for - oh fuck!” Shaw melts into all the sensations and cries out in time with Root as she plummets over the edge into darkness.

* * *

 When Shaw comes to her wrists are untied and she’s been moved out of the wet spot in the center of her bed. Root is lying next to her with those mushy eyes looking thoroughly sated. Shaw smiles weakly at her.

“Hey.”

“Hey.” Root reaches out and traces the edge of her ear and down the side of her jaw. “I’m glad that happened.”

“Me too.” Shaw leans over with some effort and gives Root a sloppy kiss. “I think I’ll miss you.”

“Nah. You’ll be okay.” Root tucks a sweaty piece of Shaw’s hair behind her ear. “I wouldn’t normally ask, but… Mind if I stay tonight?”

“Yea, sure, Root.” Shaw reaches out under the sheets until she finds Root’s leg and rests the back of her hand against her thigh. “How did you get in here, anyway?” Root breaks into a smile that is as incredulous as it is amused.

“It’s been 6 years, Sameen. You only have 3 locks. I broke in week 1. How do you think Larry is still alive.” She points at Shaw’s cactus by the window, which is thriving like never before.

“Alright, master criminal. We’ll talk about that in the morning.” Shaw yawns. “And about that whole Orbis Decima thing.”

“Sure thing, Sweetie.” Root plants a wet kiss on Shaw’s forehead, and then the both settle in for the night. It takes Shaw a little longer than usual to fall asleep. She’s not used to having someone else in her bed for non-sex times, but after the weirdness of it wears off a bit she finds the sound of Root breathing to be not such a bad thing.

~ ~ ~

They wake up the next morning to the sound of Shaw’s doorbell. Shaw grumbles and pulls on a t shirt and some shorts before dragging herself to the front door. She checks her peephole before opening the door to a fully awake and dressed to the nines Finch.

“Hi Finch.”

“Good morning, Ms. Shaw. I’ve come to discuss your impending mission. Is this a good time?”

“Sure, why not. What have you got to tell me?”

Finch starts going over some computer jargon, which sure enough lures Root out of the bedroom.

“Hi, Harold. Giving Shaw the lowdown on The Machine?”

Finch starts, and the color drains out of his face when he sees Root. Shaw checks, but Root is indeed wearing clothes, even if they’re a little small on her (her favorite hoodie!) When Shaw looks back at Finch the color his color is rapidly returning and then some.

“What are _you_ doing here? You’re not supposed to be here. I suggest you leave immediately.”

“I don’t think so. This is my apartment. She’s my guest. Maybe you should be the one to leave.” Shaw glowers at him. Coming into _her_ house.

“You don’t understand Ms. Shaw.” He clamps his laptop shut and stands to his full height. “Since you’ve been away, Ms. Groves here-”

“Root.” Root gives him a hard stare, but he keeps going.

“She’s shown her true colors. She tried to tamper with my machine. We had been working together at the time. It had started to show signs of sentience.” He sniffs. “Obviously, I put in the usual blocks to reverse that, but Ms. Groves here-”

“Root!”

“Went behind my back! She undermined my programing, in order to foster some kind of relationship with The Machine. That’s when I looked into her past. She’s not who you think she is. She’s an agent from Orbis Decima. I reported the infiltration to Control, but she managed to cut some kind of deal to evade jail time. Still. She is not allowed on government property, and since the military has been paying the rent on your apartment in your absence, I’m afraid she is not allowed here.” He crosses his arms and takes a little step back.

Shaw heads back into her bedroom, writes out a check on her desk, returns, and hands the check to Finch. “There. All paid up for this month. You can give that to Control’s secretary. And you can send me an email containing the rest of your brief on this mission.”

Finch looks down at the check and then looks back up at her. There’s a tense moment, but then he sighs and some of the tension leaves his shoulders. “Alright. You will be missed, Ms. Shaw.” He glances back at Root. “Please be careful.” He gives her a curt nod which she returns, and then he limps back out of her apartment.

Root gives her a little smile. “Thanks.” She clears her throat. “I guess… you probably have some packing to do.”

“Yea.”

“I’ll leave you to it, then.”

“Yea.” Root gathers the rest of her clothes (keeping Shaw’s hoodie on), and heads for the door. “Wait.” Shaw meets her by the door and hands her a set of keys. “In case you don’t feel like breaking in this time. ‘Larry’ could probably use the water every now and then.”

“I’m touched, but you should probably give those to John.” She hands the keys back, hands lingering on Shaw’s. “I have some plans of my own, and I don’t think I’ll be sticking around much longer.”

“Oh. Okay.” Root squeezes her bicep and kisses her, then heads out the door.

Shaw feels an unfamiliar ache in her chest, and wonders how long it will last. She gets back to packing.

~ ~ ~

Shaw is about a light year from New Terra when she pulls the ship to a halt. She unclips her seatbelt and gets up. The ship is pretty big and she has enough room for a good pace so she puts that to use.

“What am I doing? I should keep going. Finish the mission.” But her legs refuse to stop. Root. It feels wrong to leave without Root.

“What _are_ you doing, Sweetie?” The question comes from behind a couple SupCal containers.

“Root?” Shaw freezes. “Is that you?”

“The one and only. I was going to wait until you were too far to turn back before my big reveal, but… it looked like now would be a good time too.” There are some scuffling sounds and one of the boxes tilts a few degrees on its corner before thumping back into place. “... A little help here?” Shaw scoffs as she strides over. She moves the box with ease and helps Root up to her feet. “It’s a bit cramped in there.” She complains while flexing her legs. “Anyway. Ta da!”

“What are you doing here?”

“I’m going on an adventure with you, and you will not tell me no this time.” Shaw huffs and rolls her eyes, but inside the ache in her chest has lifted and been replaced with something warm and pleasant.

“Okay.”

“Okay?” Root is on her toes with happiness.

“Yea, okay.” Shaw feels a smile threatening her face, and she’s glad Root kisses her before it takes over.

“Thanks, Sweetie.” Root beams at her. “Now, The Machine and I would like to talk to you about updating this to a mission of peace and communication instead of aggression and espionage.”

_I believe I will be able to act as a translator of sorts between your species._

“What?- You know what? Just buckle up and talk to me about it on the way over.”

“Sure thing, Sameen.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That's it! Let me know what you think :-D


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